


Danny Phantom: The Series

by robindrake93



Series: Danny Phantom Novelization [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Ghosts, Novelization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29082504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robindrake93/pseuds/robindrake93
Summary: Danny Fenton was once your typical kid until he accidentally blew up his parents' laboratory and became ghost-hunting superhero Danny Phantom. Now half-ghost, Danny's picked up paranormal powers, but only his sister, Jazz, and best friends, Samantha and Tucker, know his secret. Danny's busy fighting ghosts, saving Casper High and hiding his new identity all while trying to graduate.(aka; I'm novelizing the TV series, one episode at a time.)
Series: Danny Phantom Novelization [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2133717
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Danny Phantom: The Series

**Author's Note:**

> If you read the summary then you know what's up. I'm novelizing the TV series Danny Phantom by reading the transcripts and watching the TV show at the same time. I'm doing this because I'd like to write fic but I don't want to rewatch the show or bang my head against the brick wall that is google every time I want to find information. It takes me about six hours to write a 25 minute episode and I can only work on this project in my free time, so please be patient with me. 
> 
> I tried to be as objective as possible and not insert anything from fanon or anything half remembered from when I was a kid and first watched this show. That being said, I did give Lancer the first name "Lance" because he needed a first name and I thought it was a stupid enough choice for BH to have done. And I do mention cores, for the sake of simplicity. 
> 
> If you don't like my font color, click "Hide Creator's Style" up at the top and the font will revert to the default color. 
> 
> Don't reupload/repost my works.

Spending the afternoon in the basement with his two best friends and his dad was not Danny Fenton’s idea of a good time. For one, Danny didn’t like their basement. Not because it was one of those creepy, unfinished basements that look like someone has been murdered in it. But because their basement was all metal paneling, scientific equipment, experiments in various stages of completion, and, worst of all, the portal was five feet away from him. The frame was octagon-shaped and the doors were striped yellow and black. Aside from looking like a mad scientist’s laboratory, Danny knew for a fact that someone had died down here. 

The second reason that Danny didn’t want to spend the afternoon down here was because of Jack Fenton. His dad was taller than almost everyone else in town and he was built like a bear. To say that he weighed upwards of five hundred pounds wouldn’t be an inaccurate statement. Danny didn’t used to find his dad intimidating but lately, well, lately things have changed. Besides all that, this was his dad and his best friends. No one wanted to hang out with their dad. 

“So,” dad said, standing in front of the three teenagers, “you and your little friends want to hunt ghosts.” 

Danny’s stomach rolled with nausea. A trickle of sweat ran down the back of his neck. “Uh, actually, Dad? I want to be an astronaut.” Which was true enough, and his dad knew that because Danny has wanted to be an astronaut ever since he could remember and wasn’t shy about saying so. 

Beside him, Sam Manson crossed one leg over the other. Danny was beginning to notice that she had long, gorgeous legs. He tried not to stare. “Sorry, Mr. Fenton. I was into ghosts,” Sam’s violet eyes flitted briefly to Danny. They were the same shade of violet as her lipstick. “But they’re so mainstream now. They’re like cellphones.” The irony of this statement was that Sam had a cellphone and was disinclined to give it up. 

Beside Sam, sitting closest to the portal, was Tucker Foley. He had teal eyes so dark they were almost black that were framed by aviator-style glasses. He moved his hands as he spoke. “Waste these good looks and all this charisma hunting _ghosts?_ Criminal.” Tucker put a hand on his hip and closed his eyes, as though the mere notion were disgusting. 

Danny felt a warm burst of affection for his friends. He was so lucky to have them. 

“Well, if you do want to hunt ghosts, there are a few things you need to learn,” Dad said as though none of them had spoken. He turned to a table full of glass beakers and various containers with green liquid inside. 

Danny’s shoulders drooped. He lowered his gaze to the floor. Before he had time to properly sulk, Danny saw his breath exhaled in a cloud. “Oh no,” he groaned. “This isn’t good.” 

The yellow and black portal doors slid open with a faint mechanical whizz. Beyond the doors was a swirling green vortex. Nothing definitive could be seen through it, no buildings or structures, no landscape. From the vortex, two green blobs separated and sprouted four limbs each, looking vaguely like octopuses designed by a child. Ectopuses always traveled in pairs of two because they were actually one entity that could split into two. Which meant half the limbs, and half the brain power. Despite this, they were formidable. The ghosts grabbed Sam and Tucker around their mouths, effectively silencing any screams before they could be uttered, and lifted them up and out of their chairs. 

“True, I’ve never seen a ghost, but when I do, I’ll be prepared.” Dad’s back was still turned. His huge bulk covered what he was doing but judging from his tone of voice, dad hadn’t noticed the two ghosts _right there._

Fear for his friends crept into Danny’s heart. His fingers went numb with cold. No one threatened Danny’s best friends. Especially not two half-brained ghosts. Danny glared. 

“And so will you. Whether you want to be or not,” dad continued, blissfully unaware. 

Danny reached inside of himself and felt the cold core that he’s been carrying around for a month since the incident. Mentally, Danny touched the core. Two rings of light appeared around his body, starting around his waist, moving up and down respectively. Once they covered him, they vanished, and Danny felt lighter. He smiled. 

The ectopuses looked worried. 

Danny lept from the ground. Most people, after jumping into the air, would fall back down. Danny was not most people. He could fly and right now he flew straight at the ectopuses. He grabbed them by the arms that weren’t holding Sam and Tucker, then punched the ghosts in the face. He punched them in rapid succession, until their grips on Sam and Tucker loosened. 

Sam and Tucker fell back into their chairs with twin _oofs._

Danny flung one of the ectopuses as hard as he could across the room. It sailed past dad and smacked into a wall. 

Dad just kept talking. “It all starts with your equipment.” His obliviousness was astounding. The older Danny got, the more he saw that there was a reason his mother called dad her loveable idiot. Dad held up a thermos and turned to Sam and Tucker. 

Danny focused really hard and went invisible. The ectopus still in his hand also turned invisible. 

“Sam, Tucker, this is the Fenton Thermos.” He handed it to Sam, then turned back to the table, still talking. When it came to ghost hunting, dad had a lot to say. “It’s supposed to trap ghosts.” 

The ectopus attempted to wrap its tentacles around Danny’s neck. 

Invisible was not intangible. Danny punched the ghost and chucked it across the room too, making it hit the first one. 

The ectopuses looked dizzy, swaying as they floated near the portal. As one, they turned and went into the portal. The doors slid closed behind them. That was odd, Danny noted. 

“But since it doesn’t work yet it’s just a thermos. A thermos with the word ‘Fenton’ in front of it.” 

Danny hovered near the ground. He forced himself to let go of his core, to allow the light to wash over him and encase him in the human flesh that made him sink back to earth and blend in with the masses. 

Not a second too soon. Dad whipped around and pointed to the portal Danny stood beside. “And that? That is the Fenton Portal. It releases ghosts into our world whether I want it to or not. And someday, I’ll figure out how that,” Dad tapped the door, “works too.” He turned to Sam and Tucker, towering over them with a manic grin on his face. “Now, who wants to hunt some ghosts?” 

Sam and Tucker shook visibly. 

Sam’s teeth audibly chattered. 

Tucker gripped his knees so hard, the veins in the back of his brown hands stood out. 

Neither of them replied. 

Danny put a hand on Tucker’s chair to support himself and panted. Even a small fight like that left him worn out. And dad was right; ghosts kept getting out of the portal and wreaking havoc. That wasn’t the only reason he panted; Danny’s heart galloped like a horse in his chest, fear curling up his spine. His dad almost caught him, almost found out his secret. 

Dad beamed down at them. “You kids, look at you! You’re too excited to speak! So I’ll just go on speaking.” Then he turned, slightly, striking a pose like a heroic statue. “I was born many years ago in a log cabin in the woods. Don't exactly remember where, but I do remember I wanted a pony. Never got the pony. As a matter of fact we had to eat horsemeat during the war. I had a problem with that.” 

Sam and Tucker glanced at Danny. 

Danny hung his head. Sweat dripped down his forehead. He hated his life.  
  
  
  


Monday morning, Danny sat at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal in front of him. He stared unseeingly, still half asleep, as he shoveled cereal into his mouth. His cheek rested on one hand. 

On the opposite side of the table was Maddie Fenton, Danny’s mother. She held a blowtorch in one hand. Spread out in front of her, taking up most of the kitchen table, was some sort of invention. Mom was an inventor. It was something of an obsession, except that everything she invented had to do with ghosts; finding them, hurting them, capturing them. She pulled the hood of her blue jumpsuit over her head, protecting her short orange hair, and settling her goggles into place, then turned the blowtorch on. 

Sparks flew across the table toward them, but Danny largely ignored them. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence in the Fenton household. 

Danny’s older sister, Jasmine, did not ignore them. She glanced up from her book - the title of which was _Surviving Adolescence Through Therapy_ \- and glared at mom. Jazz’s cereal sat untouched, growing soggy as she preferred to read and wasn’t big on multitasking. Despite how obviously annoyed she was by their mom working in the kitchen, Jazz didn’t say anything about it, and instead went back to her book. 

Danny scooped more cereal and brought the spoon to his mouth. The spoon clattered to the bowl, splashing milk onto the table. He blinked in surprise, glanced down, and saw that his whole arm was gone. Danny gasped and made a muffled noise of surprise. Quickly, he hid his hand under the table before anyone could see. His heart pounded against his chest and, was that what he thought it was? Yes, his core was noticeably colder. If he didn’t get this thing under control, Danny was going to… 

“Okay, two more days, and it’s done!” Mom said as she turned off the blowtorch. Her voice was bright and chipper, a job well done. 

As though her words summoned him, dad appeared in the kitchen. “What did you say?” He grabbed the invention off the table. “It’s done?” Dad held it dramatically in front of him. He grinned, that familiar manic light coming to his eyes. “The Fenton Finder is done! This baby uses satellites to lead you right to the ghosts.” 

Danny’s eyes grew wide. “It uses _what_ to track _what_?” His voice cracked. He glanced down at his arm, still intangible. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. 

The Fenton Finder beeped and then a woman’s robotic voice began speaking, “Welcome to the Fenton Finder. A ghost is near. Walk forward.” The invention was pointed right at Danny. 

Danny rose from his chair and backed away. His right arm was still intangible and he kept that side of his body angled away from his parents. Danny backed up until he hit a wall. 

Mom and dad began walking toward Danny, their movements predatory and eager. 

The Fenton Finder beeped, getting louder and beeping more rapidly as they approached Danny. 

Danny’s eyes widened and widened. It was hard to breathe. Sweat rolled down his face. He kept his body angled away from them but surely they would notice, especially with that invention telling them the obvious. 

“Ghost located,” said the Fenton Finder’s cool voice. “Thank you for using the Fenton Finder.” 

Danny gave his parents a weak smile. 

Dad’s brow furrowed with confusion. “What? Oh, that can’t be right.” He sounded annoyed. He and mom gazed at the invention, trying to figure out what went wrong with it. 

Suddenly, cold flared up in Danny’s chest and he was invisible. He looked down at himself, saw the shimmering blue of his body while it was invisible, and gritted his teeth to hold in a scream. He knew that his eyes were wide as full moons. _Change back! Change back!_ In the blink of an eye, the cold was gone and Danny was a normal boy again. He swallowed and his shoulders sagged. There was no way they missed that. “Actually...I need to tell you guys something.” 

Mom and dad perked up, their eyes lifting from the Fenton Finder to stare quizzically at Danny. 

“That’s not all you need, Danny,” Jazz cut in before Danny could continue. She closed her book, stood, and made her way to the group, shoving the Fenton Finder out of Danny’s face. “You need guidance, and parents who can provide it.” She turned so fast that her long orange hair nearly whipped Danny. Jazz’s hands were curled into fists as she glared at their parents. 

Mom’s tone turned sugar sweet, placating. “Sweetie, I know what we do doesn’t make sense sometimes, but you’re only -” 

Jazz crossed her arms, unpacified. “Sixteen. Biologically!” 

Danny knew this argument very well. He slowly began backing away, trying to escape to his room so he could hide there before school started. 

“But psychologically, I’m an adult! And I will not allow your insane obsession with ghosts to pollute the mind of this impressionable little child!” As though sensing that Danny wanted to be anywhere but with their parents, Jazz grabbed Danny by the shoulder and dragged him to her. She wrapped her arms around him protectively. Without waiting for a response, Jazz gazed down at Danny. “Come, you abused, unwanted wretch. I'll drive you to school.” Jazz glared at their parents and walked away, arm still around Danny’s shoulders.  
  
  
  


As her daughter dragged her son away, Maddie tilted her head. She put a finger to her lips. “Huh. That’s weird. Jasmine _never_ offers to drive Danny to school.” It was one of the many things that Jasmine and her parents fought over. It would just be so convenient if Jasmine would drive Danny to school since she was going there anyway. 

Jack’s dark blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “That can only mean one thing. That's not our daughter; that's a ghost.” Jack ran after the kids. “Danny, no! It’s a trap!” 

Maddie followed after her husband. But they were too late. The kids were already in Jazz’s car, driving down the road to the high school. No matter, they would find out when Jasmine got home.  
  
  
  


Danny was relieved to get away from Jazz once they got to school. 

Sam and Tucker were waiting on him, flanking him as they walked into the building. Banners hung on the walls that said something about school spirit and football. Ugh. Danny was sick of looking at them. The bell rang signaling that they had five minutes to get to class. “I think I should tell them,” Danny said. 

Tucker went up the stairs to their homeroom first. He frowned back at Danny, looking unconvinced. 

Sam followed behind them, ranting as she climbed the stairs. “Why? Parents don’t listen.” She scowled and rolled her eyes, the very subject of parents annoying her. “Even worse, they don’t understand.” The trio paused at the midway point on the stairs. Sam threw her head back and yelled, “WHY CAN’T THEY ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM?!” 

Tucker did not look impressed. 

“Sam, I-I'm talking about my powers, my problems?” Danny reminded her, not really wanting to talk over his best friend. 

Sam looked sheepish. “Oh, right. Me too.” She shot Danny an apologetic look. 

“It's been a month since the accident and I still have barely any control! If somebody catches me, I go from geek to _freak_ around here!” Cold spread throughout Danny, trickled down his legs like ice melting. 

Tucker raised an eyebrow so high it disappeared beneath the cap of his red beret. “Kinda like what you're doing right now?” 

Danny looked down, saw that he was sinking through the floor up to his chest, and yelped in surprise. 

Sam and Tucker grabbed him by the arms and pulled him up with ease. 

He wasn’t used to that, either. Neither of them worked out or anything, but they could manhandle Danny pretty easily. He didn’t weigh as much as he used to, even though he didn’t look like he’d lost any weight. The cold retracted, leaving Danny to stand on his own two feet again. He stared down at his blue jeans for a moment to make sure that his legs weren’t going to go intangible again. 

They continued up the stairs. 

“Gah! Darn it! If my dad can invent something that accidentally made me half-ghost, why can’t he invent something that turns me back to normal?” The cold spread, full body, but Danny was too angry to notice it. 

Sam had to run to catch up with how fast he was walking. “Danny, your powers make you unique. Unique is _good!_ That's why I'm an ultra recyclo-vegetarian.” She put her hands on her hips and raised her chin. 

Tucker joined more slowly. “Which means _what?_ ” 

Danny sighed. “She doesn’t eat anything with a face on it.” He knew this because once Sam had made this decision, she called him and spent three hours talking to him about it. Danny had welcomed the distraction her voice gave him from his homework and, more importantly, from his racing thoughts. 

“Oh, who cares about that stuff? Danny, two words,” Tucker held up two fingers, “meat connoisseur.” He leaned close to Danny and sniffed deeply. “Last night, you had Sloppy Joes.” 

Despite himself, Danny couldn’t help but smile. His friends always cheered him up. “Impressive.” 

“Meat heightens the senses, and my all-meat streak is fourteen years strong,” Tucker boasted, pointing a thumb at himself. 

Sam crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. “...And it's about to end.” Her voice turned smug. “The school board finally agreed to try a new cafeteria menu. I wore them down.” 

Danny frowned. 

Tucker’s eyes got wide. “Wait... What did you do?” he accused.  
  
  
  


They found out what Sam did at lunch. It was exactly as she’d said; she wore the school board down until they served what she wanted them to serve. A large banner hung over the lunch line that read: THIS WEEK _ULTRA_ RECYCLO-VEGETARIAN. The old menu was still up on the wall, taunting them with what was supposed to be meatloaf. 

Danny grabbed a lunch tray and got in line behind a black girl wearing a hot pink outfit. He saw what the lunch lady put on her plate and blanched. There was no way. He had to be dreaming. When it was his turn though, the lunch lady gave him the same thing. It looked like grass growing on a slice of bread. “What is this? Grass on a bun?” 

When Tucker saw it, he wailed at Sam, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” 

Danny felt exactly how Tucker felt. He didn’t normally mind eating his vegetables but this wasn’t even veggies. 

Sam smirked. “Tucker, it's time for a change.” She held up her slice of the grass on a bun like it was something to be treasured. 

Danny felt that he had had enough changes in his life recently.  
  
  
  


The Lunch Lady stood beside the portal doors. She couldn’t say why exactly she was there, only that they had called to her. Ever since they’d appeared, the doors had called to different ghosts. Most of the ghosts who left returned after a short while. They always had such interesting tales to tell. The Lunch Lady hoped that she would have an interesting tale to tell too. 

The portal doors slid open, revealing a world of metal. She floated out of the portal. Suddenly, she knew why the doors had called her to them. “Ooh! Somebody changed the menu!” She floated up toward the ceiling. The Lunch Lady had work to do.  
  
  
  


Jack knelt on the floor of their basement. They were working on another invention, this one sure to suck the ghost right out of their daughter. Jack wanted only the best for his little girl, irksome though she may be at times, and he couldn’t stand the idea of some evil ghosts possessing her. It wasn’t right. 

Maddie knelt beside him, watching him work, the red lenses of her goggles trained on Jack’s hands. “Maybe this is a bad idea,” she said in her high, sweet voice. She sounded so reasonable...and so deluded. 

Jack couldn’t blame her. He didn’t like thinking about Jazz being a ghost either. “No, it's perfect. When Jazz gets home we suck the ghost out of her with a Fenton Xtractor.” He stood up and struck a pose, holding the invention that looked similar to a vacuum cleaner...mostly because it was a modified vacuum cleaner. But you worked with what you had. 

Maddie stood up too. Her red lips tugged down in a frown. “But what if Jazz isn't a ghost? What if we accidentally hurt her?” Her voice went up an octave at the end, the idea of hurting one of their kids unthinkable. 

Jack spoke in a soothing, placating voice. He was sometimes the voice of reason in the relationship, the one who had to reassure Maddie. “Maddie, the Fenton Xtractor doesn't hurt humans...unless it gets in your hair…” Jack flipped the switch on. The suction was more powerful than Jack had anticipated. It ripped most of his hair out and he yelled in pain. Jack didn’t have long hair for a reason but apparently, even a little bit was enough for the device to go after. And it wasn’t so bad, the tingling, burning pain in his scalp. “...See?” he said calmly, to convince Maddie that it was a good idea.  
  
  
  


Danny was very, very hungry. He spooned off a portion of the grass on a bun and studied it, debating if he could eat it. He wasn’t a cow. Heck, he wasn’t even fully human anymore. Danny didn’t think he could eat it. “Don't you think this is a little extreme, Sam?” 

Tucker was frowning, and hadn't stopped frowning since he got his tray of grass on a bun. He hadn’t bothered with silverware even though his stomach was audibly growling. 

Sam smiled and opened her mouth to speak. 

Mr. Lancer put his hand on Sam’s shoulder, cutting her off before she could begin. He was a tall, bald man with a prominent spare tire around his middle that made him look pregnant. His eyes were dark green. “Ah, Miss Manson. The school board wanted me to personally thank you for ushering in this welcome experiment to our cafeteria.” 

Tucker’s nose twitched as he took several deep breaths in through it. He sat up a little straighter. Sweat dripped down from beneath his beret. “Meat. Near.” His voice was strained with hunger. 

Mr. Lancer looked down at Tucker in surprise. 

Tucker ducked his head and offered a weak smile to Mr. Lancer. His hunger got the better of him, though, and he leaned forward again, sniffing deeping. Whatever he smelled - meat, probably - made Tucker glare at Mr. Lancer. 

Mr. Lancer backed away, hands up and looking nervous. “No, no. The rumors about the new all-steak buffet in the teacher's lounge are completely untrue.” None of them had heard a rumor like that. The teacher pulled out a toothpick and stuck it between his teeth. He put a hand on Sam’s shoulder again since she wasn’t the one glaring at him. “Thanks again.” Then he walked away. 

Tucker glared at Sam, expression flat and angry. His tone matched as he said, “Yeah, thanks again for making us eat _garbage,_ Sam.” 

Sam just looked bored. “It's not garbage.” She held up her grass on a bun. “It's recyclable organic matter.” 

In unison, Danny and Tucker said, “It’s garbage.”  
  
  
  


The Lunch Lady watched from the ceiling as a coworker - of the living persuasion - put something that looked like grass on a slice of bread onto the tray of a student. The living lunch lady then glanced around, and pulled a hamburger out of her pocket. She snuck off to eat it. 

The Lunch Lady couldn’t blame the poor dear. Meatloaf was what was on the menu today but a hamburger would do in a pinch. She glanced around the cafeteria kitchen and spotted a book on the counter. It was a spiral bound book with laminated pages and pictures of leaves on the cover. The title read _Ultra Recyclo Veggie Lunch Menu._

The lunch lady glared. This was unacceptable. Children needed meat and protein, otherwise they would waste away. It was a good thing the portal doors had called her here. She had work to do.  
  
  
  


The longer that Danny held his grass on a bun, the more it looked like a piece of sod that someone had ripped from the ground with a spoon. He half expected to see a worm pop out of it. Danny’s breath exhaled in a visible cloud as though he’d gone outside on a cold winter's night. He gasped. “Uh, guys? I've got a problem.” 

Something wet hit Danny in the back of the head then. “UGH!” He couldn’t help but cry out. 

Sam and Tucker both flinched as excess...something - was this mud? - flew all over the table. 

A familiar, angry voice rang out. “FENTON!” 

Oh no. Danny didn’t have time for this. He turned around and grimaced. “...Make that two problems.” And he was pretty sure that there was mud in his hair. 

Dash Baxter stormed toward them. He was a tall, fit jock with short blond hair and cobalt blue eyes. He was also the school bully. His expression was furious. In his hand he held a tray with mud piled on it. So it was mud in Danny’s hair. Good to know. 

As Dash approached, the three of them stood up. It was instinct to be prepared to run when an angry bully showed up. The whole cafeteria was watching but no one would step in. 

Dash stopped only a foot away from Danny. He towered over him. The tray almost poked Danny in the chest. “I ordered three mud pies. Do you know what they gave me? Three _mud_ pies. With mud. From the ground! All because of _your_ girlfriend!” 

Danny’s eyebrow twitched. “She's not my girlfriend!” 

Sam echoed the sentiment, “I'm not his girlfriend!” Danny couldn’t see her behind him but she sounded annoyed. 

Dash grabbed Danny by the shirt and lifted him a few inches off the ground, tray forgotten. “These are the best years of my life! After high school, it's all downhill for me!” Dash dragged Danny closer, his face only a few inches from Danny’s face. 

Danny squeezed his eyes shut. It surprised Danny how honest Dash was, and how aware of his social ranking in the outside world he was. But he would think about that later. For now, he prayed that his shirt didn’t rip. 

“How am I supposed to enjoy my glory days eating _mud_?!” Dash yelled in Danny’s face. 

Danny’s eyes opened wide. He curled his hands into fists, wanted to put them on Dash’s wrists to alleviate some of the pressure on his shirt, but didn’t dare. 

Behind them came Sam’s rather unhelpful commentary, “Actually, it's topsoil.” 

Dash tossed Danny at the table. “Whatever!” 

Danny landed on the bench, hitting his forehead against the table. He barely noticed, too worried about whatever Dash was going to do next. 

Dash walked over and shoved the plate of mud into Danny’s face. “Eat it. _All_ of it.” His words were clipped short with anger. He looked down at Danny like he was a fly that Dash wanted to pull the wings off of. 

There was no way out of this. If Danny didn’t eat the mud, he’d take a beating instead. Just because he was half-ghost, didn’t mean he didn’t feel pain. He picked up a spoon and scooped up some mud. Cold spread through his lungs. His breath became visible again. Danny was never so relieved to have to fight a ghost as he was now. He looked around. 

In the cafeteria kitchen was a green woman with a pink apron and white hair. She floated past without looking at any of them. 

“Uh...uh…” He needed a distraction. Danny glanced down at the tray. He picked up the tray and tossed it directly at Dash’s face, yelling, “GARBAGE FIGHT!” 

The tray hit Dash in the face. 

With a cheer, the other students picked up their topsoil and began throwing it at each other. In a matter of seconds, it was pure chaos. 

Sam stood up from the table. “It's not garbage! It's-” 

Danny grabbed Sam by the hem of her black crop top and dragged her down to the floor where he and Tucker were hidden beneath a table. They needed to get out of here and take care of the ghost. Danny began crawling toward the door that led into the kitchen. 

Sam and Tucker followed him. 

On impulse, Danny glanced back over his shoulder. 

Dash stood, feet wide and finger pointing at Danny. The scowl hadn’t left his face. “You're gonna pay for this, Fenton!” Mud came out of nowhere, hitting Dash first in his face and then in the back of the head. 

“Great. I'm still his favorite.” Danny didn’t doubt the sincerity behind Dash’s threat. No matter what Danny did, Dash was always there to drag him down. 

The trio made it to the door without getting hit by mud, which was a small miracle. Danny and Tucker pushed the door open just enough to see. 

“Huh. Shouldn't be so bad. She looks a little like my grandmother,” Tucker said, sounding somewhat confused. 

Danny could see that. The ghost was an old woman, as he’d seen earlier. She wore a pink dress with a white apron and yellow rubber gloves. Her hair was white, her skin was green and marked with darker green liver spots. She floated a few inches off the ground. She was holding a salad bowl. 

Danny and Tucker looked at each other. Then they entered the room. “Shouldn't she be haunting a bingo hall?” 

Sam poked her head around the door too. Once she saw that it was probably safe, she entered and the door swung shut on its hinges, creaking a little bit. 

The sound alerted the ghost to their presence. She turned around. “Hello, children. Can you help me? Today's lunch is meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?” 

“Yeah,” Tucker said, pointing a thumb at Sam. “She did.” 

The Lunch Lady suddenly went from normal - dead - grandma to the grandma from hell. Her eyes turned red and her white hair turned to flames. “YOU CHANGED THE MENU?!” She shouted at them. Green fire erupted around her body. “THE MENU HAS BEEN THE SAME FOR FIFTY YEARS!” 

The trio gasped in unison, rocking back on their heels, ready to run. 

Wind kicked up, causing papers to fly around the room. The green fire centered around her head, swirling like a halo. She roared. 

“Get behind me!” Danny said. He wasn’t going to let the Lunch Lady hurt his friends. 

Sam and Tucker jumped behind Danny without hesitation. “Wow. I feel safe,” Sam said sarcastically. 

Danny mentally touched his core, that cold spot always in his chest. He felt the change come over him and yelled, “I'm going ghost!” His voice got lost in the wind. The weightlessness Danny associated with being a ghost overtook him. He floated toward the enraged Lunch Lady. She wasn’t like the ectopuses...he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with her. Danny pointed. “I command you to...go away!” 

The Lunch Lady scowled at Danny. She didn’t seem to find him very threatening. Danny couldn’t blame her. She pointed her hand toward the dishes piled in the sink. The dishes began to glow and float. Then they shot toward Danny like speeding bullets. 

Danny focused hard on becoming intangible. The dishes passed right through him, shattering against the wall behind him. He returned to normal, smiling a little to himself. He did it! 

More dishes zoomed towards Sam. She stared wide-eyed, frozen. 

Danny raced toward them, barely catching the dishes before they hit Sam. 

The Lunch Lady pointed her hand at another stack of dishes - seriously, why were there so many dirty dishes in this school? - and sent them flying toward Tucker. 

Danny zoomed toward Tucker, catching the rest of the dishes. He even caught some plates in his teeth. It hurt his mouth. Jeez, he hoped he didn’t break any teeth with this stunt. He and Tucker made eye contact. 

Tucker smiled gratefully. 

Danny flew to the counter and set the dishes down. He removed the plates from his mouth and stared at his reflection in them. “Well, if this superhero thing doesn't work out, I can have an exciting career as a busboy.” In the reflection of the plates, Danny noticed the stoves behind him beginning to move and shake. He frowned. 

“I control lunch! Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules!” The Lunch Lady said, voice a growl. Without warning, she suddenly became calm. The green fire died down and the Lunch Lady held up a plate with pink cake decorated with roses on it. The cake was transparent. “Anybody want cake?” 

Sam and Tucker nodded their heads in shock. 

The fire came back in a roar. “Too bad!” The Lunch Lady snapped. “Children who change _my_ menu do not get dessert!” Abruptly, the Lunch Lady phased through the ceiling. 

The trio watched her go. Then their attention turned to the three stoves. They smoked as they rattled in place. Then, their oven doors dropped open and green fire burst out toward Sam and Tucker. 

Sam and Tucker had the common sense to dodge out of the way. 

When the third oven spit fire at him, Danny could barely move. He stared open-mouthed at the flames as they hurled toward him. They passed by only an inch away from searing his side like ribs over a fire. But they did pass harmlessly. This was getting too dangerous, Danny realized. He didn’t know how to stop them and the kitchen was too small to hide. 

All of a sudden, the three stoves launched themselves at Sam and Tucker, just like the plates had. 

Danny’s heart leapt in his throat. He flew up behind his friends, grabbed their shoulders, and willed all of them to become intangible. He’d never done anything like it before, could barely even control when he himself became intangible. But it worked. Danny flew them through the wall and out of the kitchen. 

They came out, dropped to the floor and rolled a few feet. Danny couldn’t carry them for long. As soon as he let them go, all three of them turned normal again. Danny wound up on Tucker’s legs. He quickly righted himself. 

Behind them, there was a huge crashing sound, the sound of large appliances hitting a wall. They could have been crushed or burned alive or any number of terrible things… 

But Danny’s trick worked! He stared down at his hands in amazement. “Hey! It worked!” 

Sam barely noticed. She stood up and threw her hands into the air, furious. “This is the thanks I get for thinking like an individual?” 

Danny wondered at the coincidence of the Lunch Lady ghost showing up now, after Sam changed the menu, as opposed to any other day. He didn’t know how the ghost could have known about the menu change, but he had an inkling that she somehow did. 

There was a loud crash. The hallway shook violently. The lights went out. Electricity danced from the overhead lights, even though they didn’t turn back on. 

Oh no. What now? How powerful _was_ this Lunch Lady ghost? 

The electricity stopped but the shaking didn’t. Every door on the row of lockers nearest to him suddenly burst open. The contents came flying out; books, papers, writing utensils, baseballs, and footballs. They flew down the hallway to where the Lunch Lady floated. She glowed menacingly in the dark, her face set in a terrifyingly grim expression. The items swirled around her. 

Tucker’s eyes suddenly widened. He sniffed the air, straightening and looking around despite the flying debris. “Steak...! Rib-eye...! No, porterhouse! Medium-rare!” 

Sure enough, cooked meat on plates was flying toward the Lunch Lady, still steaming hot. The meat began attaching itself to the Lunch Lady’s body like a weird, gross armor. It didn’t stop until only her eyes were visible, shadowed and glowing green as ectoplasm. 

“But where did it come from?” Tucker glared, suddenly glancing behind him. The teachers lounge was nearby. “Lancer!” A piece of paper hit Tucker in the face.  
  
  
  


Lance Lancer stood before a group of teachers in the teacher's lounge. Beside him was a table covered with a cloth. Beneath the cloth, the delicious scents of cooked meat rose into the air. He had to hand it to Ms. Manson; if she hadn’t needled them into giving the other children dirt to eat, then they wouldn’t have been able to afford this buffet for the teachers. Dirt, after all, didn’t cost much when compared to choice cuts of meat. “Esteemed Casper High faculty, I present your all-steak buffet.” 

Lance pulled the tablecloth off. 

Several of the teachers gasped. It was not the gasp of joy that Lance had expected. 

Lance gazed down at the buffet table. There was no meat. All that was left was a single bone. It rattled against the plate as though someone had just dropped it. Lance slammed his fists on the table. “PARADISE LOST!” Someone was going to pay for this.  
  
  
  


The Lunch Lady was now a meat monster. She towered over Danny, Sam, and Tucker. “Prepare to learn why meat is the most powerful of the five food groups!” She pointed directly at Sam. Suddenly her voice lost the echoing rage and she sounded like the sweet old grandma again. The Lunch Lady held up a cookie. “Cookie?” 

Sam shook her head no. 

For a split second, the Lunch Lady seemed confused that she was turned down. She reared back, drawing her arm back, meaty fingers hooked like claws. “Then perish!” 

Danny was not going to let his friends get attacked again. He slid backward, coming to a stop right in front of Sam. “ _Forget it!_ The only thing that has an expiration date here is _you!_ ” This was a pretty good pun, he thought as he pointed at the Lunch Lady, but the effect was ruined by Danny accidentally reverting back to his human form. Danny watched in surprise as the beams traveled along his body, leaving him a normal human teenager. “Whoops! I...didn't mean to do that.” 

Stupid! He only barely had time to curse himself. 

The Lunch Lady roared and attacked. She grabbed Danny with a hand that smelled of every meat at once turning rancid. She picked Danny up like he was nothing and flung him into Tucker. 

They both hit the lockers. It hurt. Danny already hit his head once today; he wasn’t keen on doing it again. The next thing he knew, thousands of papers were raining down upon him and Tucker, blocking their view. 

Danny brushed the papers away just in time to see the Lunch Lady lift Sam off the ground and fly away down the hall, taking Sam with her. He got onto his hands and knees, intending to leap up and go after them. 

Tucker mirrored the pose. “Come on! Change back! We gotta go!” A hand suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt. 

A split second later, another hand grabbed the back of Danny’s shirt. 

The teenagers were lifted into the air like kittens. Danny was getting tired of being picked up. “You _two_ aren't going _anywhere,_ ” Mr. Lancer’s voice said. His words were clipped with anger and he scowled at the two of them. 

Beside Danny, there was Dash. He was still covered in mud. It looked like the garbage fight had made a mess of everything. Dash caught Danny looking and smirked in victory. “Told ya you'd pay Fenton!” Dash taunted. 

Danny didn’t have time for this. He had to rescue Sam. 

But it was no use. 

Mr. Lancer was already walking them to his office, with Dash following behind like a loyal puppy. When they got to Mr. Lancer’s office, Mr. Lancer set Danny and Tucker down in the chairs in front of his desk. He immediately went to the filing cabinet and began sorting through it. 

Mr. Lancer’s office was a rectangle room with a desk, two chairs, a filing cabinet, and a wall of television monitors. They showed various parts of the school. On his desk was a plaque that read: _Vice Principal Lancer._

Dash leaned against the wall by the door, looking pleased with himself. If anything happened to Sam because Dash’s pettiness prevented Danny from saving her, Dash wasn’t going to live to regret it. 

Mr. Lancer pulled out a file, opened it up, and began to read. “Tucker Foley. Chronic tardiness, talking in class, repeated loitering by the girl's locker room.” His tone was calm, even, not a trace of anger in it. 

Tucker smiled as his rep sheet was read aloud. 

Mr. Lancer moved on, withdrawing and reading another file. “Danny Fenton. Thirty-four dropped beakers in the last month, banned for life from handling all fragile school property,” Mr. Lancer returned to his desk, standing behind it. 

As Danny’s file was read aloud, Dash got a downright evil grin on his face. He was loving this. Why was he even allowed in here? 

Mr. Lancer continued, “But no severe mischief before today. So, gentlemen, tell me…” He slammed the files onto the desk. When he spoke again, it was in an angry shout as he leaned over the desk. “WHY DID THE TWO OF YOU CONSPIRE TO DESTROY THE SCHOOL'S CAFETERIA?!” 

Danny couldn’t help but grit his teeth and raise his shoulders. He hated being yelled at. Beside him, Tucker didn’t seem to be doing much better. It occurred to Danny that maybe they’d found out about the stoves. But how could he explain that it was a ghost who did that? “Dash started it! He threw-” 

Before Danny could even begin to explain, Mr. Lancer cut him off. “Four touchdown passes in the last game is thereby exempt from scorn.” 

Dash grinned, no malice this time. It genuinely pleased him to be in the vice principal's good graces. Danny wished he had that kind of luck. 

“You two, however, are not. I'll map out your punishment when I return,” Mr. Lancer said. He went to the doorway and ushered Dash out of the room, then stepped out himself. “Mr. Baxter, watch the door.” 

Dash got one last smirk in before closing them inside of the office. 

Danny and Tucker stood immediately. It was relieving to see that they were on the same page. 

Tucker said, “We gotta find Sam. For some reason, I feel like _I_ got her kidnapped.” 

Danny loved Tucker, he really did. But sometimes he felt like the smart one in the group. Only sometimes, though. “Maybe because you told the ghost she changed the menu? How about that?” 

If Tucker was upset by Danny’s words, he showed no sign of it. Instead, Tucker sniffed like the air like a bloodhound. “That steak is still in the building. 200 yards, tops.” 

Danny walked over to the wall of television screens, looking at each one for any clue as to where Sam was. One of the cameras showed a storage room filled with boxes of meat. Which was weird. Danny didn’t want to think why his school had a storage room with enough meat to fill a grocery store. On the ground in front of the boxes was a trail of meat juice, leading off screen. “Check it out,” Danny said. He pointed to the screen. “ _Meat_ trail.” 

Tucker joined Danny at the monitors. 

Danny shifted to his ghost form, grabbed Tucker’s arm, and turned them both intangible. He phased them down through the floor. 

“Whoa!” Tucker exclaimed.  
  
  
  


Lance Lancer was a fair man. That’s what everyone always said, from his family to his friends to his coworkers. He was trying to be fair to these two teenage hooligans as well. Lance would make them clean up the mess because they were the ones who started it. And whenever he found Sam Manson, she would also be forced to clean up the mess. It was odd that Lance had found the boys without her. The trio were nearly inseparable. 

He went to the nearest janitors closet for a broom. He found one easily enough. Back at his office door, Dash was still guarding faithfully. Lance opened the door, already speaking. “Gentlemen, your punishment will be--” Lance realized that the office was empty. “--WORSE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!” He yelled the last bit.  
  
  
  


The meat storage room was creepy. It was dimly lit and there were boxes of meat stacked floor to ceiling. Their labels read: chicken, roast, veal, quality ham (as opposed to what?, Danny wondered), bacon, beef, pork, and the incredibly disturbing label of _meat_ with no clue as to what animal it came from. The room was cold, which was the only good thing about it. 

Tucker did not share Danny’s uneasiness. He looked around the storage room like a child gazing at the presents underneath the Christmas tree. There were stars in his eyes. He actually held his clasped hands up to his face and batted his eyelashes like a princess in front of her prince.“Sweet mother of mutton!” Tucker hugged one of the vaguely labeled meat boxes. “I'd dreamed of it, but...I never thought I'd live to see it!” He sounded close to crying. 

Danny stuck close to Tucker’s side. “How is it that _I_ have the ghost powers and _you're_ the weird kid?” 

Before Tucker could reply, an evil cackling reached their ears. It sounded like every terrible witch in every terrible fairytale where the kids get eaten at the end. 

Danny and Tucker shared a glance, eyes wide as saucers, and crept forward to peer around a stack of boxes. 

The Lunch Lady floated in front of a huge pile of meat with her back to them. Because she was a ghost, she was transparent, so they were able to see Sam at the center of the meat. 

Sam was neck-deep in the meat. It had to be disgusting and freezing. She struggled to free herself but couldn’t move. 

“My dear child...meat is good for kids! It helps them grow and makes them smile! Why won't you eat it?” The Lunch Lady was doing that innocent voice again, as though she hadn’t been cackling like a witch a moment ago. It was jarring how quickly she could shift personalities like that. From the pile, she took a chicken leg and held it inches from Sam’s face. 

Sam looked utterly disgusted. “We don’t need meat. That’s _fact_!” 

The Lunch Lady flipped from sweet to wicked in the blink of an eye. She floated higher, arms raised in anger. The wind kicked up again, causing her white hair to float. “SILENCE!” Her voice was deep and angry. The Lunch Lady pointed to Sam. “You need discipline, manners, respect! You know where that comes from? _MEAT_!” 

Danny watched with bated breath and his back teeth grinding. She was terrifying, not so much by herself, but because she could hurt Sam. He thought fast, trying to come up with a plan to rescue Sam. 

The wind suddenly stopped. The silence left behind was stark. Only the humming of the coolers keeping the room cold could be heard. The Lunch Lady politely asked, “Chicken? Or fish?” She held up the chicken leg in one hand and a whole fish in the other. 

Huh. Danny hadn’t seen any boxes labeled fish. He was getting distracted. In a whisper, Danny said, “I'll take care of the ghost. You just find a way to get Sam out of that pile of meat!” 

Tucker held up a knife and fork. “Waaaay ahead of you,” he deadpanned. 

Danny didn’t have much of a plan to defeat the Lunch Lady. He would try the same trick with the ectopuses because it was currently the only trick he had. None of the other ghosts that came through the portal were like the Lunch Lady. They were mainly just blobs. Danny launched himself at the Lunch Lady, zooming through the air so fast that the wind flattened his hair. 

The Lunch Lady turned around a second before Danny’s fist collided with her face. Punching her felt just like punching a human when he was human. His punch sent the Lunch Lady flying. She crashed into the cinderblock wall and collapsed to the ground. 

Danny landed in front of her. He needed to beat her up and distract her from Tucker trying to free Sam. 

The Lunch Lady glared at Danny, aiming all of her anger at him. 

Good.  
  
  
  


Sam knew that Danny and Tucker would come for her. They were best friends and had been for as long as she could remember. She hoped that Danny would be able to handle the Lunch Lady. This ghost wasn’t like the ectopuses who had come through the Fenton Portal over the weekend. Sam tore her eyes away from Danny to look at her other best friend. 

Tucker was cutting away a piece of meat with his knife. He looked excited, almost drooling over the pile of meat. His hands moved so fast that his brown skin was just a blur of movement. “I'll have you free in no time, Sam!” 

Sam loved Tucker even though he was a meat eater. But she did not appreciate that he was intending to _eat_ her free. That would take forever. There was literally more meat pound for pound in this pile than there were students in the student body. She frowned at him to let him know she was annoyed. “You've _gotta_ be kidding me.” 

At least one of them was having a good time.  
  
  
  


Danny leapt from the ground. He somersaulted through the air and extended his leg, preparing to kick the Lunch Lady in the face. 

The Lunch Lady caught his foot right before he hit her. She did not look impressed. She didn’t even have to try. Her whole hand wrapped around his ankle and Danny was suddenly very aware that she could snap it if she wanted to. The Lunch Lady resumed floating. She dangled Danny upside down. “Don't you see? This is why you need meat! You're skin and -” she suddenly flung Danny through the air. “-bones!” 

Danny was still getting over his surprise that she’d caught him when she flung him. Still, he wasn’t stupid. He saw the wall rushing toward his face and turned intangible. He phased halfway through the wall, up to his waist, before falling to the ground with an _oof_. 

The Lunch Lady pointed to shish-kebabs from a box labeled as such - who has a box of just shish-kebabs? What is the mystery meat? - and the skewered meat rose. The pointed ends flew through the air, straight for Danny. 

Danny closed his eyes. He felt iciness spread through his body and tickle his abdomen. When he opened his eyes, his legs were on the ground and the rest of him was floating up in the air. Connecting the two halves of his body was an intangible tube. Danny stared at this in shock for a second, then smiled. A new power! He was learning so much today. 

The Lunch Lady took advantage of his distraction. She roared in frustration and rage. All of the meat in the boxes near her came flying out of their boxes. It flew toward her. Great; another meat suit. Then he noticed that the meat pile holding Sam hostage was flying toward the Lunch Lady as well. In a matter of seconds, her meat suit was complete. The Lunch Lady flung a meaty hand at Danny, her arm extending unnaturally long, and caught him in her fist. 

It was disgusting. It was beyond disgusting. Danny could feel the juices of the meat sliding over his skin. It was slimy and smelled raw. He was at least grateful that there was cooling in here because if it was meat sitting out in the sun to rot, Danny would have been sick. He squeezed his eyes closed so that it didn’t get into them.  
  
  
  


Tucker would do anything for Danny and Sam. It went without saying. But this was his wildest dream. All the meat he could eat. The Lunch Lady had Danny but Tucker would save him. He struck a hero pose, holding up the fork and knife threateningly. “Help's on the way, buddy!” 

The Lunch Lady turned around. She sent Danny flying. 

Danny yelled as he flew over their heads. He turned intangible, disappearing from view right before he would have hit the wall. 

The Lunch Lady loomed over Tucker and Sam, growling loudly. She was terrifying, if Tucker was being completely honest here. He hadn’t made much headway with freeing Sam and that was a pile of _nonmoving_ meat that was just waiting for him to eat it. The Lunch Lady was different. Very, very different. Tucker was scared. “Run?” Tucker suggested from the corner of his mouth. 

Sam looked terrified too. Her purple leggings were stained with meat juice. It didn’t show up on her black skirt or the black crop top, but Tucker could see it dripping off her pale skin. She had goosebumps on her arms. “Run,” Sam agreed quietly, voice tight with fear. 

Tucker didn’t mean to yell but as they bolted for the exit, he couldn’t help but let loose a terrified wail. He dropped the silverware and didn’t even care. 

Sam was right behind him, yelling too as her boots pounded the floor. 

They turned and there were the doors! They were almost free! They were going to make it! 

A pile of meat came from nowhere, hitting the door with enough force that it knocked both Sam and Tucker back onto their butts. They hit the ground with pained yowls. 

The air was knocked out of Tucker’s lungs. But they couldn’t stay down. Tucker forced himself to his feet. He glanced around for Sam, saw her getting to her feet as well. They ran again, yelling and searching for another exit. Maybe they should stop yelling. But Tucker was so dang scared he couldn’t help it. He hoped Danny would be back soon. They could really use him right about now.  
  
  
  


Danny’s head was killing him. He made it through the wall but he’d hit it on the floor. Again. At this rate he was going to get a concussion. There was no time for nursing his wounds, though. He needed to make sure that Sam and Tucker were okay. He phased through the wall, still holding the back of his head. 

Sam and Tucker ran past him, screaming their heads off. They sped past the Lunch Lady and just kept running like rats in a maze. 

The Lunch Lady followed after them, her meat suit looking like the world's fastest - and grossest - slug as she slithered after them. She made fists with both hands, raising them above her head. Sam and Tucker were just below her. She was going to crush them! 

Danny zoomed after them, flying faster than he ever had before. The wind roared in his ears. When he was close enough, Danny dove down and wrapped his arms around Sam and Tucker. His arms were the only safe place for them. He lifted them off their feet, turning intangible at the same time. They flew through a wall and away from danger. 

The Lunch Lady didn’t follow them. She must have crashed into the wall. Good. Danny hoped that she was in splatters all over the room. 

They were outside of the school. The sky was the same violet as Sam’s eyes. Danny turned them tangible, but he didn’t let his friends go. His eyesight was blurry. If he had a beating heart while he was a ghost, Danny was sure that it would have been racing. Danny’s head hurt - actually his whole body, but especially his head - and he’d had a long day. Was it just this morning that his parents nearly found out he was half-ghost? 

Sam glanced at Danny. Her eyes were a deeper violet than usual. She looked concerned. “Gee, Danny. Fighting meat monsters, flying through walls...You must be exhausted.” There was only concern in her voice, no judgement. It was nice to have someone who cared about him. 

Still, Danny couldn’t help but deny the claims. He did this because they were friends. He cared about them. And he cared about the rest of Casper High. That’s why he’d fought the ghost. So that the Lunch Lady wouldn’t hurt anyone. Only Danny. “What? Of course not!” Now that she mentioned it, though, Danny was suddenly hit with his exhaustion. He angled toward the ground, feeling his body wanting to give up. “What would give you that idea?” Danny didn’t remember falling and he didn’t feel the impact of it. What he did feel was the cold in his body pulling inward, until it was just that spot in his chest, as though his heart was frozen. 

He did not see how Sam and Tucker looked at each other with worry in their expressions.  
  
  
  


Jazz couldn’t find Danny before school let out for the day. She was worried about him. Every year it seemed like their parents got crazier and crazier with this ghost hunting stuff. There were red flags everywhere. 

Jazz parked her car and walked up the two steps to the front door. She pushed it open. All of the lights in the house were off. It felt eerie as though the whole house was holding its breath. “Mom? Dad?” Jazz’s voice echoed. The second that she crossed the threshold, the door swung shut behind her. 

Two canisters appeared on the floor in front of her; long and silver and spewing smoke. In a matter of seconds, Jazz’s vision was completely clouded over. The smoke stung her eyes and burned her throat. 

Her dad’s voice came, “Now, Maddie! Hit her! I'm moving in!” 

Jazz screamed in terror and pain. What was going on?! Something was pulling her hair! And her legs were suddenly heavy. 

“Get my back!” Dad yelled. 

Slowly, the smoke began to clear. As Jazz’s vision came back, she realized what happened. Her parents had attacked her. Her! The thing pulling her hair looked like a vacuum except it said _Fenton Xtractor_ written on the side. At least the suction wasn’t strong enough to rip her hair out. Jazz crossed her arms over her chest. 

Mom and dad were on the ground, each holding one of her legs. They looked up at her and suddenly seemed to realize that they’d made a mistake. Quickly, they both let go. 

Jazz was so angry and hurt that she didn’t even want to look at her parents. How could they do this to her? Were they planning on doing the same to Danny? This was why she needed therapy. So did Danny. “This is _all_ going in the memoir,” Jazz threatened under her breath as she stormed away.  
  
  
  


Maddie got up off the ground. 

Jack followed her lead. 

Before they could do anything besides watch Jasmine walk away, the front door opened a second time. Sam and Tucker were carrying an unconscious Danny. Sam had his legs, Tucker had his arms. Tucker began talking, voice cheerful. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! What a school day! Poor Danny nodded off. We figured we'd just carry him all the way home and tuck him into bed -” 

Maddie and Jack both frowned. 

Tucker and Sam began to walk toward the stairs. Tucker kept talking. “- without any parental interaction whatsoever.” 

As they carried Danny up the stairs, Sam chimed in, “Don't get up! We know where to go. Bye!” 

Maddie looked at Jack. That was odd but kids these days did strange things. Maddie couldn’t keep up with it. 

Jack looked to the ceiling, humming. He had a thoughtful expression on his face, his eyes squinting in suspicion. 

Maddie could see the thoughts written on his face. “Jack, Danny is not a ghost.” They’ve had this conversation many times before. But Danny was their good child, the one who loved them. Of course he wasn’t a ghost. 

“You’re right,” Jack agreed darkly. He turned his attention to where Jasmine was trying to free her hair from the Fenton Xtractor. “Jazz is.”  
  
  
  


Danny was floating on clouds. His whole body thrummed with pain and he didn’t want to wake up. Waking up meant that he had to fight again. It was better to just float here and do nothing. Then he realized. The Lunch Lady! He had to stop her! He opened his eyes and then opened them wider. “Ah! Aah! Wha? What's going on?” 

Sam and Tucker were staring down at him. The backdrop wasn’t the cold storage room in the school. It wasn’t the world outside either. They were in Danny’s room? How did they get there? 

Tucker answered, “You passed out. We took you home. You've been asleep for _four_ days!” 

Danny sat bolt upright, panic flooding his system. No! That couldn’t be right! One ghost fight and he’s out for four days?! “ _Four days_?!” 

Tucker chuckled. “Nah. It's only been a couple hours.” 

Danny laid back down, eyes still wide with shock. Oh thank god. Still, the fact that he passed out after a fight didn’t bode well. He hadn’t even defeated the Lunch Lady. She was still out there. Waiting for him. 

Sam put her hands on her hips and glared at Tucker. “Knock it off, Tucker. This is the second time today your carelessness almost got him killed.” 

Tucker turned to her, all traces of humor vanishing from his expression. He glared right back at Sam. “ _Me? I_ almost got him killed? The only reason this happened is because _you_ had to be unique. _You_ had to take the meat away!” 

Uh-oh. Mom and dad were fighting again. Danny watched, considered intervening, but found that he was too tired to do anything about their fighting. 

Sam crossed her arms and turned away from Tucker. 

Tucker stormed past her, worked into a rage now. “And I'm going to get it back!” He left through the open bedroom door. 

Sam did not like this. She fumed whenever anyone walked away from her in a fight. Especially when she thought she was right. “You want to change that menu back?” Sam went to Danny’s bedroom door, following Tucker. “YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME TO DO IT!” She slammed Danny’s door shut hard enough to shake the walls. 

Danny blinked. He watched from the bed, pushing himself up into a sitting position. They fought sometimes but it wasn’t ever serious. This would blow over. “Oh well. I'm sure everything will be back to normal by tomorrow,” Danny said aloud, hoping that it would be true.  
  
  
  


Tuesday morning, Danny did not get a ride to school with Jazz. She was gone before he even got up. That was okay. He didn’t mind walking to school; especially since it meant he would have to leave early to make it on time. Danny didn’t think much about Sam and Tucker’s fight. He was too sore from yesterday and too preoccupied with wondering what happened to the Lunch Lady. 

What he saw when he got to school made Danny forget about his soreness and the ghost. He couldn’t hide his look of disbelief. They did all of this overnight? 

One one side of the Casper High lawn was a grill that read: _Hamburgers_. A teacher was manning the grill and a bunch of students milled around, hoping for meat. There were balloons shaped like steaks and one kid even wearing a steak costume. There were other vendors too, selling meat on sticks and hot dogs. A stage had been erected with a banner that read: _National Meat Society Presents: The Weinerettes_. Four women were on stage in hotdog costumes, dancing. 

On the other side of the Casper High lawn were hippie vans painted with flowers and bright colors. There were baskets and cornucopias of fruit and vegetables all over the ground. Someone had planted an apple tree, full of ripe green apples, and a group of hippies - including a naked toddler - were gathered around it. A fruit and vegetable stand was handing out their wares to the chanting crowd. Sam had commandeered a Casper High school bus and was currently standing on top of it with a microphone and a speaker as large as she was tall. 

Sure, things would be better tomorrow, he’d told himself last night before curling up under the covers. “Or not. Maybe it'll be worse,” he mumbled to himself now. 

The Weinerettes bounced off stage. Tucker took their place, holding a microphone. He shouted into the mic. “What do we want?” 

“MEAT!” The meat lover crowd shouted back. 

“When do we want it?” Tucker shouted. 

“NOW!” They answered. 

In response to the meat lovers crowd, Sam and the veggie lovers were chanting “VEGGIES NOW! VEGGIES FOREVER! VEGGIES NOW! VEGGIES FOREVER!” at the top of their lungs. Sam noticed Danny first. She jumped down from the school bus. 

Tucker saw her, saw Danny, and leapt off the stage. 

They both stormed toward him, glaring at each other. 

Danny hated getting between them. He knew what was coming and wished that he didn’t have to be a part of it. Before either of them could speak, Danny said, “You guys put together two protests in one night?” He was impressed and disbelieving. How did they manage to do this when all Danny had been able to do was sleep? 

“Meat-eaters, Danny. Always ready to fight. And our high-protein diets give us the energy we need to do it quickly,” Tucker said. 

Sam leaned in, glaring. “Ultra recyclo-vegetarians are always ready to protest. And because we don't have to waste time cooking our food, we can move even faster.” 

Danny was too tired to care about this. He liked both meat and veggies equally. Although,after being covered in raw meat for a good portion of yesterday, Danny was feeling a little nauseous at the thought of it. He tried to mediate because he needed his best friends back. “Don't you guys think this is a little extreme?” 

Tucker’s hands curled into fists at his sides. “No choice, buddy. You're either with me!” The glare he shot Sam was venomous. 

Sam shouted, “Or you're against him!” 

They towered over Danny, getting into his space. In unison they shouted, “So whose side are you on?” 

Danny ducked, cowering away from their glares and shouting. He hated being yelled at. He hated it, hated it, hated it. And he hated it when they tried to make him choose one of them over the other. How could Danny do that? He was their best friend. He loved them both. 

Before they could shout at him some more, the wind picked up and the sky turned gray. The abrupt change in weather was enough to wipe the glares off both of their faces. Their eyes widened as they realized what this meant. 

Danny’s next exhale was a visible cloud. The cold spot within him tingled. A ghost was nearby. Well, duh. 

The same cackling from yesterday rang out over the school. The Lunch Lady was back. She probably never left. 

The two crowds of people stood, looking around in confusion and worry. This was abnormal even for Amity Park. 

The Lunch Lady yelled something indecipherable. One of the meat trucks on Tucker’s side of the lawn burst open, meat ripping its way through the metal sidings and out the back doors. The meat flew through the air, swirling and congealing in one spot above the truck. It was a tower of meat that just went up and up and up. 

Everyone watched in awestruck horror, frozen where they stood by the sight before them. It was unlike anything Danny had ever seen. He knew what was coming and it scared him. 

The meat monster finally completed its transformation. It stood as tall as the school building. The Lunch Lady’s glowing green eyes glared hotly down at the crowd of onlookers. “It's lunchtime!” She roared. 

Everyone ran away. People began screaming in terror. Their signs and everything else forgotten in the wake of saving their own lives. 

“Meat! Why have you betrayed me?!” Tucker wailed and put his face in his hands. 

Danny was going to have to fight _that_. He didn’t know how to do it. The very idea scared him. But he had to do it. He was a superhero...even though all he wanted to be was an astronaut. Danny looked around at the screaming, fleeing crowd. There was nowhere to hide to transform. “Guys, time to makeup. Now!” 

Thankfully, Sam and Tucker understood. They hugged each other, Danny in between them. Their bodies shielded him from any curious onlookers. When they broke their hug, it wasn’t Danny Fenton between them, but Danny Phantom. 

Danny took a running leap into the air. He was going to end the Lunch Lady. Once and for all.  
  
  
  


Jazz could hear screaming but she ignored it. There were more important things right now than whatever nonsense the student body was getting up to. She was practicing her future career as a psychologist on one of her fellow students. “Spike, you have to open up to your parents! Be true to yourself and them.” 

His name was Spike. He was a senior at their high school, one grade above Jazz herself. He wore all black, though most of his clothes were artistically shredded. His ribs showed and so did his underwear. On both biceps he had tattoos; though of what, Jazz couldn’t actually tell. Spike had a mohawk, spiked up at uneven lengths. His ears were pierced multiple times, and his nose, lip and eyebrow all had studs in them. He sat on a picnic table, all of his attention focused on Jazz. 

Jazz continued, encouraged by his attention. “Tell them how you feel! I mean, it's not like they're gonna attack you or anything.” A neon green net flew toward Jazz. It closed around her, knocking her to the ground. She screamed in surprise as she was dragged away from Spike. Being dragged across the ground hurt. 

She looked up, saw that she was headed for some bushes. And there, hiding in those bushes, were Jazz’s parents. Dad held a device that he was hand cranking to reel in her net as though his daughter was just a fish. “I’ve got her!” Dad glanced at mom, a victorious smile on his face. “And the Fenton Grappler is working like a charm!” 

Mom frowned. Her red lips turned down. “I don't understand. If Jazz is a ghost, why isn't she phased through the net?” She put a finger beneath her chin, thoughtful as she turned her attention back to Jazz. 

Jazz stood up. She was so angry that she was shaking. Her hands curled into fists. “Because I am _not_ a GHOST!” She threw the net off herself; easy to do now that they weren’t dragging her across the ground. “You've ambushed me, suffocated me with smoke, and worse, I was pulled away from Spike before he had his breakthrough! What do you have to say for yourselves?” Jazz was hoping for an apology. 

But she wasn’t overly surprised when dad pulled _another_ device out and aimed it at her. “Eat hot Fenton Thermos, ghost gal!” Dad shouted. He pushed the button. It sparked, but otherwise did nothing. 

Jazz looked at it. It looked like a regular thermos, except for the neon green rings around it. She glared up at her parents. How dare they do this to her? 

Dad scrutinized the thermos like he couldn’t believe it didn’t work. “Hmm.” He shook the thermos back and forth. It rattled a little. “Darn thing _still_ doesn't work!”  
  
  
  


Danny floated in front of the Lunch Lady. She was so much bigger this close. She let out a roar and one arm came up to punch Danny. 

Danny dodged. 

The Lunch Lady tried to slap him with her other hand. 

Danny dodged again. 

She tried to uppercut him. 

Danny dodged a third time. He got behind her and kicked the ghost in the face. The kick sent the Lunch Lady crashing to the ground. Danny felt pretty good about that. He hadn’t _really_ expected to be able to knock over a monster of this size. 

From the ground, Tucker’s voice drifted up to him. “He really _is_ getting better.” He sounded impressed. 

Danny looked down at his friends. They were both smiling up at him. He couldn’t help but smile back. It looked like they were all on good terms again. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that the Lunch Lady returned. Danny turned his attention back to the Lunch Lady. 

She was on her feet again. A massive meaty fist was coming right for Danny. He didn’t have time to dodge. The fist connected with his whole body, sending him soaring up and up and up. 

As Danny sailed upward, propelled by the momentum of the punch, he heard Sam’s voice drifting toward him. “I sure hope he can take a punch!” 

Danny could _obviously_ take a punch. He kept going up, up into the cold atmosphere. Danny squinted his eyes open. He was headed right for an airplane! He turned intangible. It was almost second nature now, like flipping a switch. Danny barely had to think about it. 

“There’s your water sir!” Danny heard a chipper female voice say. A flight attendant in blue stood inches from where Danny came up. She was talking to a businessman. 

Danny went through the top of the plane. He turned and dove back down, this time on purpose. His head spun. Was it the altitude or getting hit again? He phased through the plane and grabbed the glass of water from the businessman’s hand. “Thanks!” Danny dove straight down toward the Lunch Lady. He splashed the water onto his face and discarded the glass. The cold water helped him get his head back in the game.  
  
  
  


Jack stared down at his daughter. She was lovely, really, and so smart. He knew that Jazz got both traits from her mother. Jazz was glaring up at him, hurt and anger in her eyes. Jack realized that he messed up. His daughter couldn’t be a ghost. Because ghosts didn’t exist. It was time to stop this. He flashed his daughter a small, sad smile. “I, Jack Fenton, from this day forth, do hereby turn my back on ghosts.” 

Maddie stared at him, shocked. Their whole lives have been ghost hunting. It was what brought them together and sometimes it was what held them together. 

He couldn’t see Jazz, but Jack was sure she wore the same expression of surprise. Jazz lived her whole life knowing that Jack and Maddie were obsessed with ghosts. 

The ground suddenly rumbled.  
  
  
  


Danny didn’t slow down before he punched the Lunch Lady. He slammed into her without pulling up or turning intangible. Meat exploded around him, going flying all over the place, and an orange cloud burst around him. Danny slammed into the ground. He was going so fast that he made a crater in the earth. For a few seconds, Danny lay at the bottom, stunned and in too much pain to move. His whole left arm tingled like pins and needles were being poked into his bones. 

Once he caught his breath, Danny began to move. He stood up. The crater was _huge_. Meat rained down from the sky. Danny began climbing. His left arm went from pins and needles to straight pain. By the time he got to the top of the crater, both arms were trembling and Danny’s whole body felt as substantial as jello. 

The Lunch Lady floated before Danny. All of the meat was gone, leaving her looking like a little old transparent green woman again. She had an expression of concern on her face. “Oh, dear! What a mess! Are you okay?” She sounded like she was genuinely asking. 

Danny hauled himself out of the crater. He rubbed his left arm. It was the one that he’d punched her with, the one that he’d punched the ground with. He had no idea that he was this strong. Maybe it was the height he’d dove from. “Yeah. I think so.” He did not think so. Danny was fairly certain that he was going to be hurting from this for a long time. 

The small, concerned smile on her face suddenly vanished. She glared at him, leaning forward, and shouted, “TOUGH! BECAUSE YOU BEING OKAY IS NOT PART OF MY BALANCED DIET OF DOOM!” The meat that had been sizzling in the crater suddenly flew up and over Danny’s head. It settled into five small piles that had a vaguely humanoid shape to them. They were mini meat monsters. 

Danny was so tired of people shouting at him. He leapt into the sky and aimed a spinning kick at the meat monsters, slicing the heel of his foot through all five of them at once. He landed on the ground, looking up and expecting to see the meat falling back to the ground around him. 

The meat monsters reformed and were good as new in a matter of seconds. It was like he hadn’t even touched them. 

“Wasn’t expecting that,” Danny said. Warmth suddenly flooded his system, the same way it did when he turned human. Two bright rings of light flashed before his vision. He was human again! “Or that.” Why oh why didn’t he have better control of his powers? 

The meat monsters attacked as one. Their gross little hands latched onto his limbs and pulled on him. 

Danny struggled to break free. If anything, he was less efficient at fighting them as a human than he had been as a ghost. Then, Danny was in the air, hanging upside down. 

The meat monsters hung onto him by his legs, dangling him upside down and flying higher and higher. 

Danny yelled in terror. If he fell as a human, there would be no walking away from this. Danny would be a meat splat on the ground, unidentifiable from the other splattered meat products on the ground. 

The meat monsters flew Danny over the school. He saw his parents and Jazz. What were his parents doing at school? Were they here fighting ghosts? But...they weren’t actually doing anything. Just standing there. Danny heard his dad’s voice. “...And this Thermos can't trap ghosts because ghosts don't exist.” Dad tossed the thermos behind him without looking. 

The thermos whacked Danny in the face. He caught it without thinking, nearly fumbled and dropped it. But his fingers closed around the metal canister. “The Fenton Thermos! But how am I going to get it to work?” Before he could come up with a plan, Danny was falling. He fell headfirst, at a breakneck speed, right toward the ground. The school building was tall and windows rushed past him as the ground got closer and closer. Danny was going to die again. He was going to die again! “Change back! CHANGE BACK!” He closed his eyes and focused. 

Cold spread through Danny as he changed from human to ghost. He grinned, victorious, and had just enough time to see the meat monsters look surprised before he was between Jazz and their parents. “Thanks for the thermos!” Danny turned intangible and phased into the ground.  
  
  
  


A boy with white hair fell from the sky. He wore a black and white jumpsuit. His eyes glowed an ectoplasm green. Then the boy turned invisible and phased into the ground at their feet. 

Jack couldn’t believe it! He couldn’t believe it! A real life ghost! Right in front of him! “HA! Ghost kid! I was right!” He couldn’t help but rub it in Jazz’s face. He was right! In a sing-song voice, Jack said, “You were wrong! Ghosts exist!” He straightened up and laughed. “I never doubted for a second!” 

Jazz didn’t look so smug now. She looked annoyed as she turned away from him and hunched her shoulders. 

From out of nowhere, a huge pile of meat landed on them. The weight of it was enough to knock the family down. But Jack didn’t care because he was right! Ghosts were real!  
  
  
  


Danny phased out of the ground where he’d last seen the Lunch Lady floating, Fenton Thermos in hand. 

She was still there, hovering, glaring. Watching her evil plans fall apart around her. When she spotted the thermos in Danny’s hand, her scowl deepened. “NO! Soup's not on today's menu!” 

Danny floated a few feet from the ground. He glared right back at the Lunch Lady. He was so done with being thrown around. “I'm changing the menu, _permanently_!” Danny grabbed the top of the thermos, ready to pull the lid off. He didn’t know if the thermos even worked. His parents' inventions were so dangerous and half the time they didn’t even work. “Please work,” Danny prayed in a quiet voice. 

Danny pulled the top off the thermos and aimed it toward the Lunch Lady. He closed his eyes. “I hope I’m right!” He felt the energy crackling around him, building and swelling like a tidal wave. Danny mentally pushed the energy outward. A blue net flew at the Lunch Lady, moving too fast for her to dodge. 

It surrounded her, trapped her. The Lunch Lady struggled to break free. She screamed as the net dragged her back to the thermos. “NOOOO!” The energy net pulled the Lunch Lady into the thermos, dissolving her shape into a swirl of blue. 

As the Lunch Lady was pulled into the thermos, Danny suddenly felt lightheaded. A wave of dizziness washed over him, coupled with exhaustion. His ghost form dissolved in two beams of light. That was okay, because the thermos still had a hold on the Lunch Lady. She was trapped. Danny put the lid back on the thermos and smiled weakly. 

Now that the crisis was over, Danny went to find Sam and Tucker. The ground was covered in meat. Some of it cooked, some of it raw, all of going to stink to high heaven if it was left out for much longer. He found Sam and Tucker together, trapped beneath one of the protest balloons that may have once been a giant cow at some point. Danny knelt and helped Sam up. 

Other than being trapped beneath a deflated balloon for a while, Sam seemed to be doing fine. “What happened? Where’s the ghost?” 

Tucker picked himself up. He looked okay too. 

Danny was relieved. He smiled down at the thermos. “My parents have their moments.” From behind him, came a faint beeping noise. Danny spun around, whipping the thermos behind his back. It was the ghost who’d taken the thermos, not Danny. His parents couldn’t be allowed to see it. 

Mom and dad were walking over to him, that predator determination on their faces again. They were covered in meat, which was disgusting. Neither of them looked happy. In dad’s hand was the Fenton Finder. 

The Fenton Finder spoke in its cool female voice. “Ghost directly ahead.” 

Mom and dad kept walking toward him. They stopped a few feet away. 

“You would have to be some sort of moron to not notice the ghost directly ahead,” the Fenton Finder said. Was that a bit of sarcasm that Danny detached in its robotic voice? Who programmed it to say this stuff, anyway? The device was pointed directly at Danny. 

Mom and dad looked up from the Fenton Finder for the first time. They seemed surprised to see Danny there for a split second. Then their expressions settled into something cold and distant. 

Danny’s heart almost stopped - again. He didn’t like how they were looking at him. He made a split second decision. Danny plastered a smile onto his face. “Oh, sorry, Dad. You just missed him.” He jerked his thumb behind him, indicating that the ghost took off in that direction. 

Dad scowled but his dark blue eyes were alight with the thrill of the hunt. “We got a runner!” He and mom took off running around the corner of the building, chasing after an imaginary ghost. 

Danny han’t noticed Jazz behind their parents until their dad ran off. She stood, also covered in meat, and scowling. “Great.” Her lip lifted in a snarl. “Back to square one.” She turned and walked in the opposite direction their parents had run. They still had school, after all. It was still only morning. Probably wasn’t even ten o’ clock yet. 

When she was gone, Tucker turned to Danny. “So, you're not gonna tell 'em?” 

Danny shook his head. “Nah. I think I might've finally figured out what these powers are for. They make me-” 

A hand suddenly grabbed Danny’s around the back of the neck. It was a big hand, nearly as big as his father’s. The grip was tight. 

Danny’s eyes widened. He glanced upward. 

Mr. Lancer gazed down at Danny, a furious expression on his face. “In a world of trouble,” Mr. Lancer said tightly.  
  
  
  


They spent the whole day cleaning up the mess. It was tons and tons of meat strewn all about the school grounds. Mr. Lancer had gotten special permission from their parents to keep them well into the night, until the whole mess was completely cleaned up. Stars glittered overhead and the moon shone brightly. 

Normally, Danny would be excited to be able to skip class. As it was, he was tired and sore and the meat smelled terrible from being left out all day. He pushed with a broom, sweeping it into manageable piles so that Sam and Tucker could put it into trash bags. 

Mr. Lancer had been checking on them periodically throughout the day. He showed up now, megaphone in one hand and a turkey leg in the other. “Manson!” Mr. Lancer shouted into the megaphone. “Pick up that T-bone!” 

Sam glanced down at the meat. In a nauseated voice she asked, “With my _hands?_ ” As though this was the worst punishment that she could think of and they hadn’t been doing it all day. 

Mr. Lancer ignored her. He shouted once more into the megaphone. “Foley! Pick up that Turfwich!” 

Tucker looked equally disgusted. It wasn’t just the meat that had gone everywhere. For some reason, all the veggie stuff had too. He picked up the turfwich by the corner. “With my _hands_?” 

Mr. Lancer only smiled. He took a bite of the turkey leg he held. How could he eat meat after this? After this fiasco, Danny was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to eat meat again for at least a week. 

Danny shook his head. He just kept his head down and swept up the mess. He didn’t have the energy to waste talking - or thinking - about this. 

Dash swaggered over. He leaned against the dumpster, watching them work with a self-satisfied expression on his stupid handsome face. He laughed, cackled really, as Danny walked by him. 

If Danny never heard cackling again, it would be too soon. He went to the side of the dumpster, where he would be out of sight. He grabbed it and turned the dumpster intangible. All of the rotting meat spilled out of the dumpster and onto Dash, burying him beneath its bulk. Was it petty? Yes. Did Danny care? Nope. 

Dash poked his head out from the pile of meat. His blond hair was stained red and brown with juices. “FENTON!” Dash shouted. It was not a shout of anger, but a shout for help. When Dash saw Danny, his tone changed again, turning somewhat pleading. “A little help?” It sounded like he was genuinely asking. 

Oh, Danny, thought, this was going to be good. At least there was an upside to his powers. “Whatever you say, Dash.” He hid his smile and the way that his eyes suddenly turned green. His night vision sharpened. “Whatever you say.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing no-content-February so the next update for this will not take place until March.
> 
> Want to talk about Danny Phantom with me? Come and join my [DP discord server](https://discord.gg/ZYNMHvmb).


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